THIS week, we take a look at a tiny but pretty bird, the Common Waxbill. Although tiny, they are not difficult to spot because they often appear in open grasslands in largish family groups. The Common ...

Common waxbills with the highest social ranks aren’t necessarily larger or more intelligent than their peers – but they do have chest feathers that are a richer shade of red. This may be because ...

This is the 43rd in an ongoing series that highlights the riches of Pigeon Valley, the urban nature reserve in the heart of Glenwood. The focus of this article will be the Common Waxbill. Despite its ...

The common waxbill’s habit of adorning its nests with fur plucked from carnivore scat turns out to discourage attacks from predators. In southern Africa, these songbirds build enclosed grass nests on ...